Japan weather bureau says 70 percent chance of El Nino emerging in autumn

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's weather bureau said on Thursday there is a 70 percent chance an El Nino weather pattern could emerge during the Northern Hemisphere autumn.

The Japan Meteorological Agency also said recent weather patterns have been normal without either a La Nina or El Nino event. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Tuesday that a recent warming of the Pacific Ocean has led to a 70 percent chance of an El Nino weather event developing this year.

The last El Nino, a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific that typically occurs every few years, occurred around 2015/2016 and caused weather-related crop damage, fires and flash floods.

 

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)